High School Teacher Quits to Move in With Student Lover (VIDEO)

In "just because something is legal doesn't make it the right thing to do" news, a California teenager has left school and home to move in with her 41-year-old former teacher. Grossed out yet? Me too.

The fact that Jordan Powers is 18 and James Hooker is so far saying they waited to make sexytimes until after she'd become a legal adult and he'd quit his job as her business teacher doesn't exactly make me want to send the happy couple a dozen roses. I think some sort of handbook on what it means to be an adult is in order. Maybe those "For Dummies" people can lend a hand?

I'm going to leave the legal issues up to the police here -- who are investigating, by the way, in no small part because Jordan's mom unearthed 8,000 text messages, late-night phone calls, and email exchanges that took place when she was still a minor. I'm not even going to challenge how a 41-year-old married father (yeah, I know) could fall in love with a teenage student. The heart wants what the heart wants.

I want to talk about responsibility here, and Hooker's apparent lack thereof. An adult would have gotten a handle on his emotions and, very simply, waited. Told his heart to STFU while he waited for Jordan to graduate from high school before showing her even the smallest hint of his affections.

By doing that, he could have avoided all of this. He wouldn't be a one-time educator shacking up with a girl who has dropped out of school -- something that would make the toes curl on any teacher I know. He wouldn't be facing a police investigation. And he wouldn't have to spend the rest of his life asking himself, "Hey, did I use my undue influence of my position of authority to make her fall for me?"

James Hooker and Jordan Powers are proof positive that it takes more than a number to make someone an "adult." And it takes more than legality to make something right.